Adjustable coupler for door closer



Feb. 24, 1970 A. B. ARTHUR, 6,

ADJUSTABLE COUPLER FOR DbOR CLOSER Filed May 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALBERT B ARTHUR A TTORNE Y Feb. 24, 1970 A. B. ARTHUR ADJUSTABLE COUPLER'FOR DOOR CLOSER 2 Sheets Sheet 2 Filed May 22, 1968 HV VE'NTOR ALBERT B. ARTHUR A TTORNE Y United States Patent O 3,496,594 ADJUSTABLE COUPLER FOR DOOR CLOSER Albert B. Arthur, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to Rixson, Inc., Franklin Park, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 22, 1968, Ser. No. 731,167 Int. Cl. Ef 3/ 00, 3/20 US. Cl. 1649 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to an adjustable coupler adapted to connect a floor-recessed door closer to a door which may be either pivot or butt hinge mounted. The coupler is associated with the closer drive spindle and the closer arm to adjustably lock these elements. Vertical adjustment and an optional transverse adjustment are provided by an expansion screw located within a slotted spindle bore. In the case of the pivot hinge installation, an additional adjusting screw is incorporated within the spindle bore of the basic coupler so that the door may be raised or lowered in relation to the door frame opening and thereafter securely locked in position by the expansion screw. Access to the door closer may be had without removing the door from its hinges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention The present invention relates to apparatus for adjustably coupling a door closer to either a pivot or butt hinge mounted door.

Description of the prior art While the prior art is prolific with adjustable couplers for connecting a door closer to a door to be controlled, most of the arrangements are relatively complicated in construction, require removal of the door from its hinges in order to obtain access to a floor mounted closer, are relatively susceptible to malfunctioning and deterioration because the coupler components are relatively exposed, and are not readily adaptable to both butt and pivot hinged doors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention features an improved adjustable coupler for a floor mounted door closer in which the coupling elements are protectively housed within the head of a door closer arm which connects to the closer drive spindle.

The principal coupler elements comprise an expanding screw housed within a tapered threaded bore located within a shank portion of the drive spindle which is slotted. Adjustment of the expanding screw expands the slotted shank into tight friction contact with the closer arm head.

In the case of a pivot hinged door, an additional vertical adjusting screw is located within the closer arm head so that the door weight is carried directly by the spindle.

In view of the fact that this construction involves the internal housing of the various adjusting screw elements within a capped bore of the closer arm, this improved design is not as readily susceptible to damage. The design is also relatively simple, and with minor modification can be adapted to a pivot hinged door or to a butt hinged door, and at the same time both designs permit access to the door closer without unhinging the door.

3,496,594 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 ice BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that all of the features for attaining the objects of this invention may be readily understood, reference is herein made to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIGURES 1 through 5 show the particular construction of the door closer adapted for a butt hinge installation, and FIGURES 6 through 10 show the basic construction of FIGURES 1 through 5, modified for a pivot hinge installation.

FIGURE 1 shows a floor recessed closer incorporating the adjustable coupler for a butt hinged door;

FIGURE 2 shows the detailed mounting of the closer arm to a hinged door;

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIGURE 2, showing the closer spindle coupled to the closer arm;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the structure of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 shows the particular enlargement of the closer arm bore which permits an optional transverse adjustment;

FIGURE 6 shows the application of a modified adjustable coupler to a pivot hinged door;

FIGURE 7 corresponds generally with FIGURE 2 but shows the door installation of a closer arm adapted for pivot hinging;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 7 showing the interior construction of the adjustable coupler adapted for pivot hinging;

FIGURE 9 is an exploded view of the components of FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of the closer head, with cap removed, showing the means for adjusting the various screws.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the adjustable coupler for a butt hinged door shown in FIGURES 1 through 5, door 20 is supported on jamb 21 by a plurality of butt hinges 22 (only one of which is shown).

Door closer 23 is housed within a floor mounted receptacle 24 in a conventional manner with the receptacle cover 25 flush with the floor. Closer drive spindle 26 projects vertically from receptacle 24 and engages closer arm 27 in the manner hereafter described in detail. Closer arm 27 is fastened at the lower edge of a door surface by a plurality of bolts 28 passing through recessed back plate 29. The driving or retarding torque of closer 23 is, therefore, applied through spindle 26 and closer arm 27 to control and check the movements of door 20 in a manner well known in the art.

Closer arm 27 is formed with an enlarged head 30. This head envelops a hexagonal shank portion 31 of spindle 26 to provide the adjustable coupler of this invention.

In particular, shank portion 31 is formed with a slot 32, and a bore 33 which has an internally tapered thread 34. Expansion screw 35 mates with the tapered thread 34 so as to expand the slotted portion of spindle 26 against the mating surfaces of bore 36 of head 30. Expansion screw 35 is formed with a hexagonal hole 37 which receives a hex wrench (not shown). Manual operation of a hex wrench can drive expansion screw 35 into spindle bore 33 so as to expand the slotted portion of the spindle against the head into firm friction locking engagement with the closer arm 27. Shoulder 38 limits the relative movement of closer arm 27 on the shank portion 31 of spindle 26.

In view of the fact that butt hinges, such as hinge 22, may be mounted at diflerent projection distances from the door and/ or the jamb, the hexagonal enveloping bore 36 of closer arm head 30 is formed with a pair of elongated parallel sides 40. While it is obvious that in all installations the longitudinal axis of hinge pin 39 must be in alignment with the longitudinal axis of spindle 26, the cross-sectional elongation of bore 36 provided by sides 40 permits coupling of door closer 23 to door 20 for varying butt hinge projections.

Pronged cap 41 covers bore 36 so as to isolate protectively the expnsion screw 35 and its associated structure. By this arrangement the inner mechanism of the adjustable coupler is kept free from dirt and other foreign matter.

The installation, adjustment and operation of the adjustable coupler shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 is as follows:

After door 20 is mounted on butt hinge 22, door closer 23 within receptable 24 is set in the conventional manner so that the closer spindle is in axial alignment with hinge pin 39. Thereafter, closer arm 27 is placed over shank portion 31 of spindle 26 and the arm is fixed to the door by means of bolts 28 and backing plate 29. With cap 41 removed, a hexagonal wrench is inserted in hole 37 and is manually turned to drive expansion screw 35 tightly into bore 33 so that a firm friction lock is created between head 30 and shank portion 31. Manual application of cap 41 completes the installation, and the closer operates to check the movements of door 20 in a well known manner.

In the event, however, there is some malfunctioning of the door closer, requiring removal of closer 23 from receptacle 24, this can be accomplished without unhinging door 20. In particular, cap 41 is removed and a hexagonal wrench is manually driven to loosen screw 35. After arm 27 is sufficiently loosened relative spindle 26, removal of bolts 28 will enable a repairman to remove arm 27 and thus gain access to closer 23 without unhinging the door.

The modification of the adjustable coupler shown in FIGURES 6 through is adapted for use with a pivot hinged door in which the closer spindle is required to carry the door weight. It will be noted that with respect to the butt hinged installation of FIGURES 1 through 5 previously described, the door weight was carried by the butt hinges and that, therefore, the closer spindle was not required to support a vertical thrust load.

As is shown in FIGURE 6, door 50 is radially supported by a top pivot (not shown) and an optional intermediate pivot hinge 51 with the full weight of the door being carried on spindle 55. Whereas the pin of a butt hinge is normally displaced, transversely from the jamb end of the door, most pivot hinges are mounted inch in from the jamb end of the door and also inch away from the adjacent door surface. In view of the fact that pivot hinges must be mounted accurately in accordance with hinge specifications so that no projection variations are permitted, as is the case with the butt hinge, closer arm head 52 is formed with a hexagonal bore 53 having equal sides. Thus, in the coupler construction shown in FIGURES 6 through 10 hexagonal shank portion 54 of spindle 55 mates closely within bore 53 (see FIGURES 8 and 10) so that no lateral or transverse adjusting movement is permitted, as was the case with the adjustable coupler for the butt hinge.

It is necessary to modify the adjustable coupler so that vertical thrust loads generated by the door weight are carried by the spindle. In the structure of FIGURES 6 through 10 this is accomplished by internally threading the upper portion of bore 53 with a set of circular threads 56 so that vertical adjusting screw 58 may be received within the upper portion of bore 53.

Adjusting screw 56 is formed with a hexagonal bore 59 or an optional screw driver groove 60. Accordingly, manual operation of a screw driver or hexagonal wrench can be used to drive adjusting screw 58' into contact with the p of p d e 54. I m y thus be seen that adjusting screw 4 58 limits the penetration of the spindle 54 within closer arm head 52.

The installation, operation and adjustment of the adjustable coupler of FIGURES 6 through 10 are as follows:

, With door 50 pivot hinged on jamb 61 as previously described, closer '62 is floor installed so that the center of rotation of the top pivot ,(not shown) is in axial alignment with the center of rotation of spindle 55. Thereafter, closer arm 63 is placed over spindle 55 and attached to door 50 by means of bolts '64 and backing plate 65.

With cap 66 removed, vertical adjusting screw 58 is manually driven by either a screw driver or a hexagonal wrench until the top of spindle shank 54 rests against the bottom surface of screw 58 thereby providing vertical adjustment of door 50. Thereafter, a hexagonal wrench is inserted through bore 50 of adjusting screw 58 and into hole 70 of expansion screw 67. Manual operation of the be inserted through bore 59 of adjusting screw 48 and into bore 71 to establish a firm friction contact between shank portion 54 and head 52.

Application of cover 66 isolates the interior structure of the adjustable coupler from dirt and other foreign matter.

It may be readily seen that the coupler of FIGURES 6 through 10 may be remover (when used in conjunction with an intermediate pivot 51 of the vertical load carrying type), as was the case with the butt hinged installation of FIGURES 1 through 5, so that access may be had to door closer 62 without unhinging the door.

The above described arrangements, having both vertical and transverse adjustments, can be used with no modification when a threshold or carpet installation is required.

What is claimed is:

1. In an adjustable coupler for a floor mounted door closer having a closer arm adapted for door mounting and also connection to a closer drive spindle, the improvement comprising an expanding screw housed within a tapered threaded bore located within a shank portion of the spindle which is slotted, and the closer arm having an enlarged head formed with a bore which receives the slotted spindle shank so that adjustment of the expanding screw expands the slotted shank into tight friction contact with the closer arm head.

2. The coupler of claim 1 in which the spindle shank has a cross-sectional shape formed by a plurality of pairs of parallel surfaces, and the bore of the closer arm head mates closely with one pair of said parallel surfaces and loosely with the remaining pairs to provide relative transverse adjustment movement restricted in one direction.

3. The coupler of claim 2 in which the spidle shank has a hexagonal cross-section of equal sides, and the closer arm bore has a hexagonal cross-section with one pair of parallel side surfaces being longer than the others.

4. The coupler of claim 1 in which the closer arm bore is threaded beyond the received spindle shank, and a vertical adjusting screw is located within the arm bore which mates with the bore threads for adjusting and limiting the penetration of the spindle shank within the bore thus providing vertical adjustment of the door and transmitting the weight of the door directly to the closer spindle.

5. The coupler of claim 4 in which the vertical adjusting screw is formed with an opening for inserting a tool therethrough to operate the expansion screw.

6. The coupler of claim 5 in which the opening is adapted to receive an operating tool to rotate the vertical adjusting screw.

7. The coupler of claim 5 in whichthe vertical adjusting screw is provided with a drive groove.

8. The coupler of claim 7 having a plug-in cap covering the otherwise exposed bore of the arm head to thus protect the internally housed elements.

9. In an adjustable coupler for a door closer contained within a floor mounted receptacle having a receptacle cover flush with the floor and having a closer drive spindle projecting above the floor, the improvement comprising a closer drive arm mounted on a lower edge of the door, a head on said arm enveloping the spindle, means located within the head for adjusting the vertical positioning of the arm and its supported door by limiting the penetration of the spindle within the head, and means located within the head locking the head and spindle one to the other by friction with the top of the spindle being in contact with the first means.

10. The combination of claim 9 in which the closer arm is mounted on the side of the door with the arm head projecting away from the door surface, and the spindle is mounted in vertical axial alignment with the arm head, so that the arm may be removed from the door to provide access to the closer without unhinging the door.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Thornton 1649 Potter 1649 Schlage 1649 Bernhard 1649 Schlage et a1. 1649 Rose et al. 287--124 XR Meripol 287-125 XR US. Cl. X.R. 

